A Single Touch
by EmpressV
Summary: Seven years after TPM, (Part 1) Amidala comes to the temple to request Jedi help and finds herself falling for a teenage Anakin, but there a Jedi woman with romantic intentions towards him. (part 2) Anakin and Obi-Wan leave the temple with the Queen to i
1. Default Chapter

A single Touch (Naboo Mission pt. 1) Title: A Single Touch (Mission to Naboo pt. 1)

Author: Empress Vader   
  


Summary: When an older Jedi shows interest in an already confused sixteen-year-old Anakin, the last thing he needs is an unexpected visitor. And more than that, he doesn't need it to be Queen Amidala. But she shows up and he's stuck in a tug of war match between both women.   
  


Disclaimer: Anybody reading this knows _Star Wars_ isn't mine. This story was not written for profit, only entertainment.   
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A SINGLE TOUCH   
  


Anakin awoke in a cold sweat. It was the same dream again, the same one he'd been having since puberty shot through him with a vengeance. He'd crawl through her window just as she sat down to remove her makeup, that horrid dead white make-up. But she froze her motions to look at him, shocked, as she should have been. For it's impossible to crawl through a castle window. The widow in the Queen's chamber is hundreds of meters of the ground. But none of that rationality is part of her shock. He'd grown, he was a man. And she was trying to figure out if it was him, but somehow her heart knew what her eyes weren't sure of. Still no words were spoken, because none were needed. He reached up and wiped the make-up from her half of her face, not because he didn't intend to finish, but because she stopped him with a single touch. And it only took that touch for them to embrace each other like familiar lovers. And in the blink of an eye, they were together, and just when things got really hot, he woke up.   
  


He hated waking up like this. His sheets were soaked with sweat, his heart beating out of control, other things he wouldn't even say out loud. He stripped the sheets from the bed. "R-46," Anakin called. The droid wobbled out the corner. This altered old model Astromech droid had been modified by him for simple menial task. His engineering wasn't half as involved as C-3PO, but he was a useful tool. When he was a boy, he had sent the temple on ends fixing gadgets with no purpose. There were droids changing light fixtures that were perfectly fine, reorganizing storage areas over and over again, and causing general chaos. Finally Obi-Wan limited him to a few projects at a time, one or two at any given moment. R46 became his project, heck if the temple wasn't going to take advantage of all their good spare parts, he sure was. Watto would have loved some of those prime pieces he dug up.   
  


"Foursix, take care of this," Anakin said tossing the sheets into the droids extended arm. Then they left the room. The droid headed toward laundry, Anakin headed toward another area. He grabbed one of the few droids the temple found a use for, seeker droids. Set to stun, they were often used for lightsaber practice. Actually, the frustration this dream often caused made one seeker droid no challenge at all. So he grabbed four more.   
  


In the practice room, he turned the seekers on and activated his lightsaber. Power surged through him when he held this weapon, it belonged there, and it knew him. Adrenaline, the dream always left him with excess adrenaline, and he filtered his unfulfilled frustration into every blow, he became rage. Two of the seeker droids shot at him simultaneously, he deflected the blow easily and hit one of the seekers with the deflected blow. Three fired, not one hit him. He predicted each shot and deflected it, then destroyed the remaining droids in dazzling sweeps of blue light. He and his weapon could not be touched, especially when his energy was peaked like this.   
  


"Very good," a female voice said.   
  


Siri, she had grown up with Obi-Wan. And from the moment he'd arrived at the temple she'd been a good friend. Of course, it helped that she was gorgeous. Oh, she tried her best to play it down. She kept her hair short, never done up. Even though all the Jedi wore the same basic tunic, she made sure never to accentuate her femininity.   
  


"Now how will you do against a live opponent?"   
  


"Care to find out?" Anakin smiled.   
  


They each activated their light sabers and went at it. Siri was good; she had always been ahead of her class. But with Anakin she was perfectly matched. Each had their own brand of competitiveness that the other feed off of. There had been many a midnight battle like this that went on an on, neither willing to yield to the other. Anakin loved the way she pushed him to be better. Obi-Wan was too philosophical about everything.   
  


A distant beep caused Anakin to get distracted, and that quick Siri's low power blade scorched him. Anakin jumped at the shock, then yelled at the distraction. The fool droid Foursix had brought the sheets to him, instead of back to his room.   
  


"Foursix, you hunk of junk, take them to my room."   
  


Siri raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with your sheets?"   
  


Anakin looked down embarrassed, and he still had energy to work off. "Can we go jog?"   
  


"Sure," Siri said.   
  


There was a long walkway that circled the temple. They could run it easily by filtering the force, but Anakin didn't want to. He wanted to feel every strain of his muscle. They took off, running side by side. Siri was his confidant. He could tell her things that he wouldn't tell Obi-Wan, because he didn't understand. Sometimes he wondered if Obi-Wan had ever been a real man, if he had ever been crazy or wild. He wondered if he had ever made a mistake. Still, even with Siri, talking about Queen Amidala, the girl he had known as Padme didn't seem like a good idea. She was his heart's treasure; a special part of the past that he kept locked away in the hope he could reclaim it in the near future. Yet there were parts of him that wanted Siri, wanted to hold too her. But she was too old for him, what was it with him and women to old for him. He wondered if he would ever see Amidala again anyway.   
  


"I knew her as Padme," he finally said after they'd run a Kilometer. "But she's known to most people as Queen Amidala."   
  


"Obi-Wan told me about her. You still think about her?" She questioned. "It's been seven years."   
  


"I loved her, from the moment I meant her I loved her," he stopped running, and she stopped to. "I can remember every detail of her face, her smile. They way she said Ani, with it's own particular music to it. She's amazing, I wish you could meet her. I mean she started her life as a farm girl, but she's so poised and refined, and smart, it seems like she's been raised among royalty. And she can be so gentle, it's shocking to see her flip into this warrior and this diplomat and retain that sweetness somewhere in her deeper self." The teenager stopped and sat down. "Which is why it disturbs me now that in my dreams all I can think about is her and well, me, doing, having---" Siri sat beside him.   
  


"It happens, you grow up, you like girls, you think about it. Girls think about it to."   
  


"But what about that whole Jedi wisdom thing? 'For the Jedi their is no emotion, there is peace.' Yoda drills it in your head. But Passion is an emotion and it rages through you, it can't be controlled or rationalized. What do I do?"   
  


"Or do what we do, run it off." Siri sighed. "You know, I use to have a crush on Obi-Wan."   
  


Anakin turned to her in shock.   
  


"You know your master though; he's Jedi to the bone. I mean, when he was a kid, he had his days. He wasn't always perfect. He even left the Jedi once."   
  


"What!!! He left and came back."   
  


"Seems somebody on Melida/Daan got to him. I know there was a girl and she died. I don't know what there relationship was. He never really got why I was so hard on him after he came back. Anyway, I got over him though, just like you'll get over her. It just happens."   
  


"I don't think it's going to happen with me," the sixteen-year-old replied.   
  


Siri placed a hand on Anakin's neck. A comforting hand only, But all that built up tension caused him to do something crazy, that single touch made him turn and tackle her lips in a kiss. Was he crazy? She was nearly thirty. But he couldn't stop himself.   
  


And for a minute, Siri was shocked at sat there frozen until the boy pulled away. They then looked at each other awkwardly.   
  


"I'm sorry," he mumbled.   
  


"Don't be," she replied and grabbed him for another kiss. He couldn't help responding. He was kissing Siri. This mature, beautiful, voluptuous, Jedi woman. The woman who had taught him how to handle a lightsaber. And she wanted to kiss him.   
  


For the longest time they embraced, but then the face of Queen Amidala with her half removed makeup, half revealed face flashed in his mind and he stopped himself.   
  


"What?" Siri asked.   
  


"Is this right?" Anakin asked.   
  


"I don't know, but it sure feels good."   
  


It didn't sound like the usual response of a Jedi knight. They were renowned for their wisdom, but that wisdom came at a distance from the situation. When things got this personal and intimate, forgetting that Jedi wisdom was easy. Everything else he had done, even when he caused trouble, felt right in his head somewhere. At first, this had also. But now that the adrenaline rush was gone, the world seemed a little upside down. He shouldn't have kissed her at all.   
  


"A Jedi must have the most serious mind," Yoda's voice jumped into his head.   
  


"I should get back to my room, Foursix might shred the sheets or something," Anakin said getting up and running off. He speed into the temple so fast he ran into Obi-Wan, hitting him square in the chest and falling backward. He scrambled to his feet.   
  


"Sorry Master," the boy said softly.   
  


"What's the rush Padawan?"   
  


"My droid, he still has some kinks to work out."   
  


"R46, he's got a lot of quirks all right. Seems to cause more harm than help for you. Sometimes I think you invite chaos Padawan, that you enjoy it. Your great with mechanicals, built a working protocol droid. Yet, you can't get this simple unit to work right."   
  


Obi-Wan looked past him at to the door. Siri entered. She looked at the master and Padawan and then turned away down another hallway. Obi-Wan looked at the boys singed tunic.   
  


"Another late night training session?" Obi-Wan asked.   
  


"You could call it that," Anakin replied. "I was having trouble sleeping; she helped me work off the tension. May I go?"   
  


Obi-Wan nodded.   
  
  
  


*****   
  


"Anakin," the two-year-old yelled as she ran to him. Teca was his baby. He'd brought the sick baby to the temple and when they insisted she be sent to an orphanage, he'd insisted she was force sensitive and must stay. They hadn't felt it at first, but when the baby made her full recovery, she'd been confirmed as force sensitive. From the moment he found her, he'd taken care of her. He'd feed her, sing her bedtime stories, and play with her for at least an hour everyday. Unless he was off on a mission with Obi-Wan, he showed up when she woke up and put her to bed at night. Sometimes she spent the whole days at his side. He never told anyone how much she looked like Padme.   
  


"And how is my Teca," he said lifting the little one in the air.   
  


"She wanna fly," Teca replied.   
  


"Well, fly my Teca, fly," Anakin said spinning her around in the sky.   
  


"Can she come with me for a little while?" Anakin asked Morik. He was the new caretaker for this age group.   
  


"Sure," Morik replied.   
  


"We go," the baby asked.   
  


"We go," Anakin said lifting the baby onto his back. "We're going to play with Obi-Wan today."   
  


"Oba-one. I like Oba-one," Teca replied.   
  
  
  
  
  


Obi-Wan arranged the huge weighted objects across the floor, using the force. Anakin would be here soon and he didn't know what to say to him. I saw you, you're caught. Siri was going to be even harder to confront. 'He's just a kid Siri,' Obi-Wan thought. He couldn't go to Yoda with this, or Mace Windu, or even Adi Gallia. And she'd trained Siri. He didn't want to ruin a reputation that didn't have to be ruined, but you can't fool Jedi for long. At his age, Anakin was a tangle of emotions anyway and his background made this years all the more complicated. The last thing he needed was some older woman confusing him more.   
  


"Good morning Master," Anakin said cheerfully as he entered the room, interrupting his master's thoughts. He slipped baby Teca off his back.   
  


He loved the boy, he couldn't help it. Despite the serious face he had to put on for the council, he'd found some of Anakin's hijinks amusing. He came to love him like a son, he had worked hard to earn the respect and trust the boy had given Qui-Gon and the boy had returned the favor and done his best to be a good Jedi. Sometimes he got frustrated and felt the need to break free. But he'd apologize, come back and repent. What more could you ask of him?   
  


"I see we have company today."   
  


"Is that okay master?"   
  


"Yes, it's quite all right," Obi-Wan replied. "Now one of these objects in front of you . . ."   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


She'd come seeking him, unable to help herself. Only she got lost in one of the many corridors and had to ask a child for the location of the room. He'd reached into his mind and pointed her in the general direction. And she'd found him. Cloaked in her plain gray hooded tunic, it was easy to be ignored. They knew she wasn't a Jedi and the temple rarely had visitors, but there was no malicious intent in her presence.   
  


She looked into the room and there sat a young man, the youth couldn't have been Anakin, but it was. He was levitating 5 large objects around his head. There was a baby sucking a bottle beside him and Obi-Wan, who instead of looking youthful was beginning to look distinguished, was instructing him. The wisdom she'd always seen in Qui-Gon was now settling into Obi-Wan. She wondered if Anakin would be the same way when he was older. She wouldn't disturb him, besides it was just amazing to watch her little man doing this. "Little man", that phrase suddenly felt wrong. He was taller than she was.   
  


Suddenly Anakin turned as if he had been hit, hit by her presence probably. She'd forgotten how keen Jedi senses were. All the objects started dropped toward the ground, but never hit the floor. He grasped control an instant before it would have crashed.   
  


"Very good Padawan, you averted a disaster, but in the future don't allow yourself to get distracted. Never turn off your sense of the world around you, but don't let it make you lose your focus."   
  


What he felt, couldn't be real, Anakin thought. "Lower the objects gently and take a break." Obi-Wan sighed as he did this. "I felt her too."   
  


Anakin smiled and turned toward the door. As she walked in, wearing a nondescript gray hooded tunic, his heart beat speed up. He always thought he would come to her, that he could plan for this moment in time where she'd see him all grown up. She dropped the hood and those big brown eyes looked up at him. And she smiled. He felt nine all over again, his throat turned to Jelly and he couldn't speak.   
  


"I was in Coruscant, I couldn't resist dropping by," the queen of Naboo said, her eyes roaming his body. She exhaled, she knew he'd grown but she wasn't prepared for this sudden rush. He was all male. What happened to the little boy? Who, in seven short years, had replaced him with this viral young man?   
  


"I hope you don't mind Obi-Wan," Amidala asked.   
  


"Mind, of course not," Obi-Wan replied. It might have been the truth a day ago, but now that Siri had done what she'd done he didn't know if this would alleviate or complicate the problem with Siri. Maybe when Padme left, Anakin would feel it wrong to go back to Siri.   
  


The way he was looking at her there was no doubt in his mind Anakin was still in love with her. And this time, she felt it too. Anakin still hadn't said a word to her. After dreaming about her on and off for years, no one could have predicted she would just show up one day in the temple. And Anakin saw she had become very shapely in the last couple years. When he'd known her way back when, she'd been on the verge of womanhood, now she was a woman.   
  


"Who you?" Teca finally asked.   
  


"Padme, at least for now," Queen Amidala replied, he eyes still glued to the tall Jedi in front of her.   
  


"I Teca, I two,"   
  


"Can I ---," Anakin begin. "You're beautiful." He finally said sounding like a child and embarrassed about his lack of words.   
  


His voice, she was struck by it, he wasn't a boy anymore, not by a long shot. And the only response she could muster was a smile. He's only sixteen, she reminded herself, and I'm twenty-one. But the numbers seemed so insignificant all of a sudden. Sixteen seemed a lifetime away from nine.   
  


"Will you show me around?" the Queen asked.   
  


"Yes," he mumbled and took her hand. But as soon as his hand grazed hers he was struck completely still. A single touch and he turned to look at her and she at him. Without thinking, they shut out Obi-Wan, Teca, the whole temple and drew close.   
  


"Ani," the baby cried, breaking the trance.   
  


"Come on Teca, lets show our queen around," he said letting go of Amidala's hand and reaching for the baby's hand. Amidala took the other hand and they left the study room.   
  


Obi-Wan had to exhale himself once they were gone. Well it looked as if Anakin would be distracted for the rest of the day? Siri entered the room a second after they left.   
  


"Hi Obi-Wan," she said with her eyes downcast. Very unusual for Siri, but he knew the source of her shame so there was no need to question it. "Finish with Anakin already."   
  


"Well, it seems he had a visitor so I let him go."   
  


"What kind of visitor?" she asked with an unfamiliar glare.   
  


"The royal kind," he noticed his tone had developed it's own uneven rhythm. He quickly calmed himself.   
  


It couldn't be "her" could it, Siri asked herself. No, she was light years away from them and years in Anakin's past. And that's all she was, past. With a quiet good-bye, she slipped out the room and went searching for Anakin.   
  
  
  
  
  


"This is Bant," Anakin told her as the stood by the fountain with the older Jedi. "She grew up with Obi-Wan too."   
  


"Hello," Bant, the Calamarian, said. "I've heard of your world. It's beautiful; I'd love to see it sometime."   
  


"You're welcome to anytime. We have much to thank the Jedi for."   
  


Anywhere else people might have assumed they were a young couple with a family. Earning the little girls trust, Padme asked to hold her. Padme now carried Teca on her hip as she sucked on a pacifier. Anakin stood beside her, a protective arm around the older girl's shoulder. He'd done so self-consciously, but proudly, as he introduced her to one of his favorite Jedi. However, he was afraid of running into Siri. What would she think of them? Certainly not cute couple.   
  


Bant said good-bye, leaving them by the gorgeous fountain alone. A tired Teca began to doze off.   
  


"I'll take her," Anakin said. "She's real heavy when she falls asleep."   
  


"Is little Ani implying he's stronger than I am?" Amidala said playfully. She was flirting, involuntarily. This was not why she came, but she couldn't help it. Bringing up business now didn't feel necessary.   
  


"Well, I'm not so little. In fact I'm bigger than you are," he said slipping the baby into his arms.   
  


"So, how are things on Naboo?"   
  


"Well we've been busy trying to improve Naboo-Gungan relations. We want the Gungans involved in business, farming, and even our children are schooling, side by side. Did I tell you Jar-Jar's the head of the inter species relationships committee?"   
  


"Figurehead?"   
  


"No, he brought the first Gungan children to the capital city in Theed and started a committee to revise the teaching materials. It was a big broadcast, but---"   
  


"But?"   
  


"The younger kids were easier going about it then the older kids and the grown ups are just plain stubborn. The Naboo insist that their teaching methods have worked for years and our sciences are far more advanced."   
  


"Oh no," Anakin said.   
  


"Yeah, it could have been a mess, but nobody wants another war. The compromise was two classes with Gungan teachers on their culture and science. Language arts were an issue, the Gungans speak a broken Basic that they consider proper and to us it is gibberish. But the school issues have settled. However, none of our other plans to combine the two cultures have worked. When it comes to the adult world, each side thinks their way is right and their not willing to compromise which in the end---"   
  


"Could bring you right back to the segregation you had before."   
  


"Right and that's something I don't want. I see a chance to do something really great here."   
  


"Do you need Jedi intervention?" he asked hoping for a chance to get away.   
  


"Not on this matter, but---"   
  


"Anakin," a voice called approaching from the distance. Siri, what would he do? He didn't want to introduce her to Amidala; he liked keeping their realms separate.   
  


He smiled and turned towards her. She was close, but he hadn't heard her approach.   
  


"I heard you had company," the Jedi woman said. "Hi, I'm Siri," she introduced herself, not waiting for an introduction.   
  


"I'm Padme, a friend of his."   
  


"A royal friend, I know the story."   
  


"Ani," Padme said turning to him with a smile.   
  


"Obi-Wan told her, not me," Anakin defended playfully.   
  


"So, why are you here?" Siri said interrupting the private game that had begun between them.   


It became clear to both of them then, that the girl was jealous. Siri was already taller the Padme, there was no question she had more physical strength. But the queen, suddenly clear about the older woman's inclinations toward Anakin, faced the Jedi woman with a glare as clear in it's meaning as Siri's.   
  


"I'm here to ask for Jedi help, namely the help of my old friend here and his master."   
  


"You could have requested that from your home planet."   
  


"Well," Padme said smiling at Anakin. "I do have personal reasons for doing it myself." She placed a protective arm around Anakin. "He promised to marry me you know."   
  


"Well, boys do say the silliest things sometimes."   
  


Each regarded each other with false smiles and Siri left in a barely hidden huff.   
  


"Are you involved with that woman?" Padme suddenly asked protectively.   
  


He was nine again, a guilty nine year old. After some soul searching he told her what had happened between himself and Siri.   
  
  
  


********   
  


"Surrounds your Padawan, chaos does," Yoda said to the young Jedi.   
  


"I know Master Yoda; I'm trying to center him."   
  


"Seven years trying you have been," he exhaled. "Good it is you will soon be off on a mission."   
  


"Mission master?"   
  


"Your guest, the young queen. For you, a mission she will request."   
  


"Well if she needs us."   
  


"She doesn't. About the boy this is. The boy and Siri. Good it is to get this dispute out the temple. Unsettling for others it is."   
  


So Yoda knew, of course he knew. You couldn't hide anything from a Jedi, for long.   
  
  
  
  
  


********   
  


Anakin gently laid the baby on his bed and covered her with a blanket. Foursix came beeping into the room. Anakin and Padme smiled in remembrance of Tatooine when he'd introduced her to 3P0. But Mace Windu was with it and wearing a none to happy expression.   
  


"This thing was fooling with the oven in the kitchen and nearly blew us all up."   
  


"Sorry," Anakin said. "Kinks."   
  


Mace Windu grimaced and left the bedroom.   
  


"Your droids always have personality," Padme said examining the newly entered droid, who beeped happily.   
  


"So, you were telling me about your problem," Anakin entered.   
  


"Well just like everywhere else, Naboo has it's problem areas. Ours is Talok town. It's on an island on the far side of the planet. They've started this illegal game ring, fisting."   
  


"Fisting?"   
  


"They claim it's entertainment, but people are getting hurt. It's a bloodbath. The operations completely underground. Naboo is peaceful again. The last thing we need is people eliciting violence." Padme yawned.   
  


"Lay down, there's room," Anakin said. "We'll talk to Obi-Wan after you've had some rest."   
  


"Thank you," Amidala said as she lay down beside the baby. Anakin sat in a chair, tossed a ball in the air and held it there, using the force. Then he closed his eyes imagining the ball spinning in his head and the ball spun in the air. He visualized home, his mother, him walking up to her and saying those wonderful words, "You're free." Then he'd take her to Naboo where he'd marry the Queen and they'd live happily ever after. Yeah right, nice dream, he thought as he let the ball drop from the air into his hands.   
  


But she's her, in his bedroom, now deep asleep in his bed. he knelt beside his bed and look down at her angelic face. "Are you an Angel?" he heard his young voice say. He reached out for her, pulled back an inch, and then went forward again. He touched the side of her face and gently ran a light finger down her cheek. "I love you," he whispered. He began moving in closer and lightly touched her lips with his own. The napping baby stirred just as he felt her lips return his kiss.   
  


"This moment may never come again," he whispered to himself. He lay down beside her, the baby taking up a small space in-between them. He felt her breath on his ear, the baby securely cuddled between them. Her soft breath on his neck. He feel asleep and felt no need to dream of her, she was here. But a thought or two did dwell on his mother.   
  
  
  
  
  


When he woke up, she was looking down at him, so close he could feel involuntary physical stirrings throughout himself. She had to feel them too, but she didn't move. He was confused by her boldness; she was confused by it herself. But Siri's interest in him had turned her own feelings into hyper drive.   
  


Teca? It occurred to him she was gone. Then he heard a giggle and one of his old models flying. She was content.   
  


"You know you don't have to wait till I'm asleep to kiss me," Padme said.   
  


"Sorry," the nervous boy said. His heart was ready to beat right out of his chest.   
  


Suddenly the door slid open and the two jumped up off the bed.   
  


"You do realize there's a little one in the room?" Obi-Wan said eyeing the young people on the bed.   
  


"We all fell asleep," Anakin defended. "There was nothing going on."   
  


Obi-Wan turned toward the Queen. "What is the state of your planet?"   
  


"Quite stable, I assure you I would not leave my people in unsecured hands. Sabe is posing for me, they don't even know I'm gone."   
  


"Why did you come instead of a messenger, or just a message?"   
  


Padme was growing red under his accusation of irresponsibility. 'Why didn't he just leave her alone?' Anakin wondered. If she was here, it was for a good reason, she needed their help.   
  


"A violent illegal game has begun in Naboo's underground. As hard as it is to imagine us having one."   
  


"It's not hard at all, no amount of light can eliminate the shadows. In fact, shadows exist because of the light. We will leave for Naboo in the morning."   
  


They smiled to themselves as Obi-Wan left. Meanwhile Anakin picked up Teca and prepared to take her back to her caretaker.   
  


The baby looked sad. "Ani go way?"   
  


"Just for a little while, I'll be back."   
  


"Teca miss," the baby said.   
  


"Can't she come with us?" Padme asked.   
  


"No, I don't think they'll allow it. They never have before. These are very delicate years, it's very important they they're within the love and security of the temple until they're mature enough to do otherwise. But I'll ask. Let's get Teca back to Morik."   
  


"Morik," Padme questioned as she followed him out of his room. He explained on the way.   
  
  
  


Hours later, Padme sat in a practice room watching Anakin battle a seeker droid, blindfolded. She couldn't believe it was him. She had adjusted to his new look, his height, and even his voice. But she still couldn't believe he was a Jedi. He handled that brilliant blue lightsaber like he was born with it molded to his body. It wasn't his weapon, it was an instrument he was one with and watching him move with it was like watching music and magic fussed together. Down went the seeker droid and Padme clapped.   
  


"Want to try it," Anakin smiled.   
  


"Is that allowed?" Amidala wondered. He was asking her to weld a Jedi weapon.   
  


"Come here," he motioned.   
  


She stepped toward him and his arms fell around her. As he placed the deactivated light saber in her hands, he covered her hands with his own. And with this touch they became one. She felt him flow through her. In the huge, gym-like, training room sound filtered easily and the sound of his breath against her ear was powerful. She yielded her body to his control.   
  


"Close your eyes," he said softly. The sound was compellingly seductive. "Now move with me, not against me, not after me, with me."   
  


He took a moment and closed his eyes. He didn't move until their heartbeats became one. Nestled together, their minds touched. They activated the lightsaber and began to move together. Touching this mysterious force through him was the most amazing thing she had ever felt. She was only slightly aware of her body's movements alongside his. They were entranced into a dance of souls. Moving together, like they were sealed into one body. It was like a heightened spiritual way of making love.   
  


"I love you," she whispered involuntarily.   
  


It shocked Anakin so much, he stopped. She turned toward him and with a single soft touch to her lips, they kissed. He kissed her with all the passion and love and desire born of their erotic dance. And she met it fiercely. Neither one of them felt like themselves, neither was this naturally bold. But somehow it felt like a truer, more honest self, had been born of their touching minds. And they had no more control over their emotions, over what their bodies wanted. His lips moved from her lips to her neck as he cupped her chin. She turned to jelly as she felt his soft lips running over her skin, sending shivers through her body. She never wanted him to stop, but he did. A distant presence touched his mind, breaking the trance. He turned and saw an angry Siri standing behind him. Amidala's eyes fell on her and readjusted her tunic around her neck, covering as much exposed skin as possible. Shame, Anakin felt the shame emanating from her. She was a queen, to be caught like this was scandalous. And it was Siri's fault she felt this way.   
  


He didn't bother to consider Siri's feelings. He didn't bother to consider how hurt she felt. 

Foremost on his mind was the honor of his queen. But Siri was the first to draw her lightsaber; this was how they dealt with their problems. They fought it out, usually neutrally, just as a release. But now they were angry with each other, the problem was with each other, now it was dangerous. Just a second ago this room had been filled with beauty, now it was filled with pain, hurt, jealousy. And it created two angry beasts. And Anakin drew his lightsaber.   
  


Padme moved out of the way and they swung at each other.   
  
  
  
  
  


A cold wind blew through the room where Yoda, Mace Windu, and Obi-Wan sat meditating.   
  


"It is to late," Yoda said turning to his companions. They'd felt it too.   
  


"We still have a chance to stop it before it goes to far." Obi-Wan said running out the door, the two elder masters followed.   
  


By the time they got to the room, a bunch of young students, ranging from about seven to fourteen, were watching the battle enthralled, cheering this one or that on like it was some spectator sport. Padme looked as if she was trying to disappear into a corner. They combatants were consumed by their anger. The lightsabers weren't even set to low the way they did for practice. They were prepared to kill each other. And the students were cheering them on. Obi-Wan now saw why the Jedi were so afraid of the consequences of fear in someone Anakin's age. Close to both of them, he tried to reach out to their minds, but both minds were closed to him.   
  


"They could not hear you if you shouted," Mace replied.   
  


"But Master, I have to stop this."   
  


"You cannot, they must," Mace pointed out.   
  


"Anakin, please stop," Padme whispered. And he stopped just stopped. And just as Siri was prepared to deal a killing blow, she stopped, deactivated her lightsaber and ran from the room.   
  


Anakin then saw his master, ashamed in a corner of the room. The students were stunned to silence now. Anakin turned toward them.   
  


"I was wrong!" he yelled to them. "Wrong, its like master Yoda says, 'A Jedi uses the force for knowledge and defense, never for attack. I was wrong!" he yelled. "Say it."   
  


"You were wrong!" they yelled back.   
  


"Again," he yelled. And they repeated the statement and after many times he turned to Padme and said, "I was wrong, forgive me."   
  


He walked up to her and fell on one knee. "Forgive me, I was wrong."   
  


Padme nodded and helped him to his feet and they left the training room together.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Obi-Wan found Siri in her quarters, staring at the floor in shame.   
  


"What in the galaxy is wrong with you? He's a boy, your a mature Jedi knight, you were one of his mentors. I thought I could depend on you---"   
  


"Shut up Obi-Wan. I know I was wrong, okay. But it felt good to be desired. Anakin looked at me and saw the woman I always wanted you to see. But it's a dark, purely physical emotion, an emotion Yoda couldn't make logical with all his damn Jedi wisdom. And for years I felt it for you. But you ignored me, just figured I was tough. Then Anakin comes along, your Padawan, with a fire like mine. When I saw Anakin and his deeper connection with that delicate little queen of his I hated him. Not for what he did, because I wanted that feeling he has with her, with you. As long as she was just an idea, a distant idea, I could posses the physical side. Earn again what I had lost with you."   
  


Obi-Wan was stunned to silence. He'd hardly ever thought about childhood, but images came flashing through his mind now like pieces of a puzzle. "I'm so sorry," he said quietly. "I'm so sorry."   
  


"You can't apologize for feelings you never had. It's my problem. And you don't have to worry about my corrupting your Padawan. I'm leaving. I'm going to some distant, quiet planet where I can be alone for awhile. I'll return when I can trust my emotions again. I now must go before the Jedi Council, and apologize."   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Anakin sat on his bed, held by his queen, his queen, his Angel, his light. She felt for him, but did she really know how sorry he was.   
  


"Anakin, I shouldn't have come," Padme finally said   
  


"No, no, don't say that."   
  


"I caused this."   
  


"No, you didn't."   
  


"I should be home, what if something happens."   
  


"We're going tomorrow, together."   
  


"Anakin, I didn't come here expecting to fall in love with you. I mean, I loved you just not like this. And it scares me that you got so close, possessed me so fully."   
  


"For years, I've had this dream where I crawl through your window and wipe off half your face makeup, just half, always half. I never knew why. Now I do, I could never have all of you. There will always be a part of you I can't have."   
  


"It's a hard life we choose. Unlike some people, our jobs ask for all of us. So we feel like we're cheating them when we give some of it away to someone else."   
  


He relaxed there in Amidala's arms. Somehow her speech gave way to the Queen again. She was worried, but both their souls were tired and his decided to give his body a rest. Hers did the same.   
  


They slept in each others arms that night and they were due to leave the next morning. But before they did, Anakin said good-bye to Teca. Anakin and Padme were happy to leave the temple and their issues their for a little while. Teca wasn't happy about it. "Just for a little while," he told the baby. Queen Amidala knew she was saying good-bye to the little girl for good. She noted how good a father he would be, and one day that would be possible.   
  


Siri was gone by the day of there departure. Anakin felt horrible about the whole situation, he had kissed her. Even though Obi-Wan had said it was Siri's decision to live in isolation for awhile, he knew he was more than a piece of the problem. Only one person made that guilt a little easier to bear was his queen. And as they took off for Naboo, they held on to each other for support.   
  
  
  


to be continued. . . .. . 


	2. Illegal Games

Title: Fisting (Mission to Naboo pt. 2)

Author: Empress Vader

------------------------------   
He could tell she was reluctant to go back to Naboo, to duty. Despite the disaster that had happened with Siri, Couresant was a serious vacation from the madness of being a Queen. Obi-Wan had let them be the whole trip, the situation with Siri had led him to do some serious soul searching himself. 

Anakin had actually enjoyed fulfilling his heart's desire with Padme, Amidala. He still called her Padme in his head sometimes, it was the name he'd first known her by and she had allowed him to call her by either name. But he knew, even though both of them were on it, Naboo was going to be a place where they were forced to be distant. 

Amidala took Anakin's hand as they ship landed. "Kiss me good-bye," she said. 

Anakin smiled and kissed her, something that came so naturally to him now. Just seven years ago, the request would have never came. The only two people there to greet them were Captain Panaka and Jar-Jar Binks. Amidala exited the transport first. 

"How are things?" Amidala asked them. 

"Same," Panaka replied. "We still haven't been able to track the transmission back to Gunner and Lexar." 

"Who are Gunner and Lexar?" Obi-Wan inquired as he exited the transport with his Padawan in tow. 

"Whoa, tha sun Ani," Jar Jar said, completely off topic. "Ani bombad Jedi now." Jar Jar's eyes were bugging. 

Anakin smiled despite himself. "Hello my friend." 

"I'll brief you in my office," Panaka said leading the group out of the hanger and down the stairway that lead to one of the conference rooms. Sabe and the rest of the handmaidens were there waiting. 

"Welcome back my Queen," they all said in turn. 

"Hello, I hear things went well. You all remember Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi," Amidala said nodding toward them. 

They all smiled and said hello. Each girl's glance fell on the almost man they had seen running at the foot of the Queen's gown just a few years before. 

"Panaka, you may brief them while I go prepare," she motioned to her handmaidens and they all left the room. 

---------------------------------------- 

Anakin found himself bored as Panaka spent an hour explaining a data they had right in front of them on Gunner and Lexar. They had the data, what did they need the speech for? Gunner and Lexar, it seemed, were a Gungan-Human team who hired fighters for their game. The fighters wore mask and remained anonymous. People paid to for the broadcast and watched it in their home. But it was illegal and very underground. No one had been able to trace the signal directly to the island where it was centered. They had a volunteer member of the guard go undercover as a fighter and that's how they'd found them. But in the end, the guard said had had a change of heart about the sport and disappeared in it. 

Anakin really didn't get what the problem was, fisting wasn't the first battle sport in the galaxy and it looked harmless. The fighters were padded, there were rules. Podracing was ten times more dangerous than this and it didn't even exist in the same realm as pit-racing. He had almost died in each sport and he had to have his senses tuned to it's zenith just to participate. But this he could do on a bad day, never employing the force at all. What in the hell was Amidala so worried about? Obi-Wan was asking Panaka plenty of questions about the sport, but not the right one. 

"Master, may I speak," Anakin finally asked. 

"What is it you wish to ask Padawan?" 

"Panaka, How many people have actually died in this sport?" 

"None, why?" 

"Well, when the Queen said it was a blood bath, I expected something at least resembling the dangers of podracing." 

"This is dangerous. Children in the 12 to 17 age range, your age range, have become obsessed with watching it." 

"So, they watch a what, weekly broadcast and it turns them into monsters. I saw a lot of horrible things---" 

"Anakin!!!" Obi-Wan cut in. "That's enough." 

"I'm sorry Master," the Padawan replied. It had been a loooooooong time since he'd let his mind slip like that. He should never have spoke that way. He should have listened to the situation, evaluated it on his own terms and then--_- "Kiss me good-bye Anakin"_

He heard her voice as if she were sitting next to him. Was that his problem, his distraction? 

"Padawan perhaps it would be best if you waited outside We'll talk later." 

Anakin bowed to his master and left the room. 

---------------------- 

Two hours later, Yane came and lead him and Obi-Wan to their room. They would stay there for the night and then sail to Talok town. Obi-Wan filled him in on what little more Panaka had said about the "sport" and it's proprietors. They were given awhile to get settled and then the Queen came with Sabe and Eriate to request Anakin Skywalker's company for dinner. Obi-Wan wanted to say no, Anakin could sense it. Amidala could just read it in the older man's eyes. 

"Your invited too, of course," she said. 

"It's fine, he can go," Obi-Wan finally replied. 

But they didn't go directly to dinner. She took him outside the palace. Anakin followed Queen Amidala out to the streets. They didn't hold hands or speak much, he just followed at a distance. The People of Theed stopped and waved at the Queen as she walked through the marketplace. She retained her air of authority even while she spoke back to him. He began to wonder if she ever blinked when she was "the Queen". 

"Anakin, I heard how you responded to Captain Panaka," Amidala said as her company stopped short of a local school. The bell rang and children began running out. A little girl and a Gungan child were chatting. A group of boys, Gungan and human alike, ran to a nearby field throwing a ball from one to the other. Two sets of teachers, Gungan and human, came out of the building talking about there children's personality. 

"We use to be very divided and we still haven't gotten everyone together, but we're close, we're on the verge of making Naboo whole. It's two primary species are beginning to think of each other as neighbors. Fisting puts that very fragile bond in danger." 

"But the two men who run it are a Naboo and a Gungan, isn't that what you want." 

"I want us living together in peace, not violence." 

"Sometimes, just sometimes, isn't it okay to just let your frustrations out." 

"Like you and Siri?" 

"Siri and I fought a thousand times without ever hurting each other. It was no different than a lightsaber training course." 

Amidala blinked, he could sense she was remembering there little session, how they had moved together with his lightsaber, how there minds had touched. They had never made love, but somehow she knew her mind touching his through the force was so much more powerful. She swallowed before she continued. 

"They're not training for anything Anakin," Amidala replied. "They're just hurting each other for sport." 

"How do you know?" 

"What?" 

"You don't really know why they're doing it." 

"Well that's why your here," Amidala replied trying best she could to hold in her anger. 

Why did she make his tongue lash out the way it did? On Couresant, at the temple, they had been so tender with each other. Now they were at odds, bumping heads on this issue like two bulls in a pen. 

"I am sorry for speaking the way I have been your highness, I just don't agree." 

"And Obi-Wan? Does he share your opinion?" Amidala asked. 

"Obi-Wan keeps an open mind," Anakin replied. In fact, he had felt that Obi-Wan wasn't entirely sure the situation was what the Queen was making it out to be either. 

"I understand your worry my Queen," Anakin said with a special emphasis on "my". 

Anakin and Amidala turned and headed back to the palace her handmaidens in tow.   
  
  
  


---------------------- 

That evening, Obi-Wan and Panaka also dinned with the Queen. After dinner with the Queen and Panaka, Anakin headed to the courtyard to meditate. He needed to practice his calming exercises now. After spending so much time close to his Queen, it was hard experiencing this distance and conflict. He wanted to feel her close to him again, he wanted to wipe that white make-up from her face. He wanted to tackle her in a kiss and never let her go. 

Then he felt her enter his space, her space actually, it was her courtyard but his meditation. He slowly allowed himself to slip back into her world. She said nothing, just walked up to him and touched his face. 

"I'm sorry," she said. 

"Me too," he said pulling her into his arms and planting a firm kiss on her lips, so hard he surprised himself. 

" Can we do it again?" she asked. 

"What?" 

"What we did before," she smiled deeply. 

He finally understood. "Of course," he said with a smile. 

He pulled his lightsaber from his belt, and she nestled in front of him, gripping the lightsaber over his hands and activating it. She closed her eyes and inhaled, opened her mind to him the best she knew how. In a way, opening her mind to him almost seemed natural, too natural. She couldn't fight her heart with all the common sense she had been taught and that was a horrible and wonderful thought all at once. He would always know her heart, but he could also know everything else. 

"Feel me, my mind, my soul, my heartbeat," Anakin whispered into her ear. "and I'll feel yours." 

All she could hear was the hum of the lightsaber as they moved together slowly, slashing at nothing, but becoming one with the weapon. The music was back, the seductive dance. She could feel the life around her, the flowers, the people, and most of all Anakin. They were one body all of a sudden. They were making love, but in a deeper place than the physical body could ever go. How could they split up tomorrow? Perhaps they hoped if they disagreed enough , they could stay around each other longer. 

Their dance stopped when he felt Obi-Wan enter the courtyard. Anakin powered down his lightsaber and Amidala was released from her connection to the force. 

"That lightsaber isn't a toy," Obi-Wan said. 

"I know Master. I wasn't playing with it," Anakin replied. 

"Just with her." 

"I would never play with her." 

"On the contrary young Padawan, your playing with each other. You are on the verge of womanhood my Queen and you are suddenly realizing that being Queen, as important as it was and still is to you, has taken away some of your life. And your trying to reclaim it through Anakin. And Anakin, she's much easier to deal with than your responsibilities." 

Anakin finally had had enough. What did Obi-Wan know of love? He hadn't even seen into Siri's heart, seen that the whole incident with Anakin was to get to him. 

"I love her with every bone in my body Obi-Wan, I would kill for her." 

Amidala didn't seemed to pleased with this violent declaration, no matter how powerful. 

"I don't doubt you love her, you are not the first person to fall in love Anakin. But at this point in your training." 

"_He even left the Jedi once...._" he suddenly remembered Siri saying it. "_There was a girl....I don't know what their relationship was._" 

"Melida/ Daan?" Anakin Questioned. Obi-Wan didn't need to answer, he could feel the ripples in the force that came with the question. Obi-Wan sighed and Amidala quietly left knowing that Anakin and Obi-Wan needed this time alone.   
  


"It wasn't a girl Anakin, it was a whole cause. Melida/Daan, it made me earn my life as a Jedi. I made a judgment call that even the council didn't completely disagree with, but what they did completely disagreed with was breaking the bond Qui-Gon and myself began to develop. That relationship, that love between a Padawan and his master, it's just as important as anything, perhaps more." 

"And the girl, how does she factor in." 

"She was a part of the young. The young had risen against the elders. They were in a civil war, life was death and death was the only thing they honored. Qui-gon and I were unwanted guest in a civil war and it was Cerasi who led us to the young. She had this beautiful copper hair and these amazing crystal green eyes. Her friend was Neild." 

"Just a friend?" 

"We were all just friends Anakin, there was never anymore. We were fighting a war, we didn't have time to go out and have dinner." 

"Would you have?" 

"At the time, my heart was in conflict about the whole ordeal. Trust my feelings or Qui-gon's, what do you do when you and the person you love disagree on a issue so serious. All I knew is the young seemed right. And they were right in their intentions, we just weren't ready for the responsibility. Kids, young people, they're just not ready for certain emotional responsibilities. We won and the adults united, united against us. I began being called an outsider, after I'd renounced Qui-Gon and my Jedi training to join them. Only Cerasi was on my side. And the group of young began breaking up, conflicting on issues. It became less about what was right for the group and more about what one person wanted. It was only when both sides and myself lost someone we loved that we realized what had happened to us. See, Cerasi's father was one of the adult leaders and he lost his daughter. Neild he was the leader of the Young, he lost his best friend. And I lost her too. At first, everyone just wanted to blame the other person and kill each other. I had to call Qui-Gon in to save us all, make them see what truly had caused Cerasi's death. The temple shields you from it, the pain so you won't grow up with it. But when your thirteen and you feel and see death for the first time in someone close, it still kills a part of you." 

"I'm sorry you lost her." 

"Maybe it wasn't romantic love, maybe it was. But I never wanted to feel that strong kind of love again." 

"And you haven't" 

"Of course I have. I lost Qui-Gon, but it was different. Qui-Gon, he was like a father, but he gave me something before I left, you." 

"Me," Anakin questioned. "You didn't even like me then." 

"No, I didn't like that Qui-Gon liked you. It was like an only child having to take a back seat the new little baby brother." Obi-Wan smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "And then, you became like my son. I wanted to train you not because Qui-Gon wanted me to, but because you were important to me." 

Anakin could do nothing but smile. "And what about Amidala?" 

"I know when your young, it's magical and everything is about the moment. But we are force sensitive. Our feelings can turn on us very quickly when we allow ourselves to walk blindly into intense emotion. The dark side of the force can wait for just that moment, the moment your heart is filled with passion to turn it to something evil. If you don't control your emotions and aren't able to achieve that inner peace." 

"Passions rage out of control," Anakin finished. 

"I know you love her Anakin, who doesn't know? But your time will come and that time is not now. With patience you can one day have a wonderful life with her. No one will stop you from pursuing her, but I don't agree with it, not at this moment in your training." 

Obi-Wan patted him on the shoulder and left him alone. Anakin wanted to trust his masters feelings on the issue, but he might not become a full fledged Knight for another ten years. Anything could happen by then. Death should have taught Obi-Wan waiting is never good. Anakin got up and headed back for his room.   
  


When Anakin opened his door, he couldn't speak. She stood before him, face devoid of make-up, and grabbed him into the room. 

"Amidala?" he questioned. "Padme?" he asked when he got a breath. 

"Ever since we were together, in the mind, I could do nothing but think of you. " 

Could touching her through the force involuntarily opened some part of her controlled part of her brain? HE had to stop this. 

"Padme," he said grabbing her hands and holding her at arms length before she tried to kiss him again. "This isn't you, it's some weird effect of what we did." He had opened her mind to something more pure, her desire. 

Inhale he said and pulled her close. "Now feel me, then feel yourself, all of yourself. Not only the part that wants----" He didn't want to finish, it sounded conceited. "The part that wants me. Just like I have to control the part that wants---." 

He didn't finish, he looked down at her lips and kissed them softly. They walked over to the bed kissing and fell on it doing so. Neither of them understood in any verbal rational part of their brain what was going on, but they finally got the strength to stop. 

"This is wrong right now, isn't it," Anakin said looking at the ceiling. 

"Yes, but its feels right," she crawled into his arms and he kissed her head. 

They curled up together and went to sleep. When Anakin awoke in the morning, she was gone. 

It was Jar Jar Binks who saw them off. It was no great celebration. They got up in the morning, had a quick breakfast and went to meet their boat. Anakin wondered why Amidala hadn't come to meet them, he would have loved to talk to her with a clear head. But there was a mission to finish. 

Anakin's long journey to the island that housed Talok town was uneventful. Anakin and his master spent most of the journey in meditation and study, it was the first calm time they'd had in days. However, both were confident the peace they got on the boat, would not last once they arrived in town. 

As they approached the seaport, Anakin saw the town that made up the island was basically a heap of old buildings. except for the shiny arena that rose high at it's center. The marketplace surrounding the arena seemed pretty new also. A few of the buildings looked to be under renovation. Having spent most of his time on Naboo in Theed the first time he was here, he was more than a little shocked to see a town in such disrepair. 

Nester was the governor of Talok town. Like the rest of Naboo's officials, he was elected to his position. The governor was waiting at the seaport with two of his assistants and a bodyguard. When they docked, the governor greeted them with the usual pleasantries. 

"My sources tell me the Jedi do not agree with the Queens assessment of our game," the governor said. 

Anakin was a little thrown off by this comment, what sources? The calm of the trip and long meditation had given Anakin a clearer head. He felt no need to make the same outburst he had in front of Panaka. 

"We have not decided," Obi-Wan said. "We do not serve the Queen. We serve the best interest of the people. The Jedi are merely peacemakers." 

"May I speak openly," asked the Governor. 

"Please do?" 

":I only ask because I have heard the Jedi can sense deception and I want to remain as honest as possible. Our sport is harmless and the proceeds are being used to rebuild the town. Even before the arrival of the trade federation this place was hard to manage. The Queen sitting in her high castle in Theed has no idea what it's like for my citizens. And I may also mention, Naboo's more glorious cities have had little to no luck uniting Naboo's humans and Gungans. They had to fight both groups to get them in school together. Because Talok is basically an island, we are very close to our Gungan population. You can walk through our small marketplace any day and see them working side by side. The game, Fisting, isn't for the soul profit of it's creators, everyone has benefited. And our dome." The governor pointed to the arena. "Is a product of combined technologies. " 

"You can't deny the sport promotes violence," Obi-Wan entered. 

"These aren't grudge matches. We don't purposely put people together to kill each other. Many of the fighters have trained together, have kids who play together, they go out for drinks after their matches." 

"But it's illegal," Obi-Wan said. 

"Not everything put into law is right. When you go back to Theed, ask the Queen about little Toric and his cousin. They were twelve and made their own little business. A newsletter for kids. For one article on Fisting, they were locked up overnight. Two brilliant entrepreneurial children." 

"Were the arrested in Theed?" Anakin asked. It was the first time he'd entered anything into the conversation. It was obvious to Anakin this guy didn't like the Queen, but now he was going to far. Implying she would lock up children. To hear him talk, you'd see Amidala as a cruel tyrant and that she wasn't.   
  


"No, a city north of Theed," the governor replied. "The Queen actually released them and apologized to their families. But she used the incident as a platform on the evils of fisting. I sometimes think she only let the kids go so she could use the incident." 

"Pad--the Queen would never use a child's misfortunes like that. If she spoke upon it, it was because she honestly considers fisting a social issue." 

The governor smiled. "So young Jedi, the Queen has charmed you." 

Anakin definatly did not like this governor. 

"Boy, the only reason the Queen hasn't gotten rid of me is because she knows how Talok citizens would react. I was just like her at first, tried to end fisting early on," The governor continued. "Then I saw Lexar and Gunner were only trying to help. I saw the things they did for the community with their profits. So I accepted it for the good of Talok. I invite you, unofficially of course to see tonight's fight. And, unofficially, tour the gym and meat some of our fighter." 

"We accept," Obi-Wan said to him. 

"Audi will show you to your rooms," the governor said pointing to his assistant. 

The Jedi left with Audi.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


A few hours later, Audi escorted the Jedi to the gym. The gym, unlike the arena, was one of the older building. The fisting fighters had been using it since the beginning. Anakin was impressed most by the Gungan fighters. The only Gungan Anakin had ever known personally was Jar Jar Binks and he could barely make two steps without tripping over them. But the well trained Gungan fighters made good use of their rubbery flexible bodies. To Anakin's surprise, a well trained Gungan had excellent maneuverability. And the punches these guys could throw could leave one knocked out for months. Jar Jar probably would have given his left arm to have some of their skills when he got attacked by Sebulba. The humans weren't to shabby themselves. With a few more aliens added into the mix, this game could get quite interesting. 

Obi-Wan didn't looked as impressed. His expression remained completely neutral. 

"New fighters," a large, muscled man questioned as he approached the Jedi and Audi. 

"No, they're the Jedi the Queen requested," Audi replied. 

"Well then I guess the best thing for you to do is meet Gunner and Lexar," the fighter said. "My names Hersham by the way." 

"Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker," Obi-Wan replied introducing them both. 

Hersham led them through the gym to an office in the back. Gunner and Lexar were wearing a set of gloves, no pads, punching at each other. Lexar (the Gungan) had just landed a hard blow to Gunner's chin when they turned and noticed they had company. Gunner laughed and put an arm around his friend's shoulder. 

"You still throw a mean left," Gunner said to his friend. 

"Thee sun guys musen be the Jedi," Lexar added. "Messa Lexar and thisun mesa buddy Gunner." 

"You guys were just fighting," Anakin replied. 

"Wesun fightin' all the time, don't be meanin' nothin' to us." 

Anakin smiled, impressed by this. Obi-Wan didn't look so thrilled. 

"Well," said Gunner. "You've seen our gym. Now you need to come see the "dome"." 

"The dome?" Anakin questioned. 

"Our arena where the fights are held," Gunner replied. 

"Mesun goin' gettin' yousa speeder," Lexar said. 

"Meet you out front," Gunner replied. 

Lexar left the room toweling himself off. 

"Lexar and I use to come to this building all the time and just hang out," Gunner replied. "Now all our fighters practice here." 

"How long have you known Lexar," Obi-Wan questioned. 

"We met when we were kids. Being an island instead of a big city on the mainland, Gungan's are often seen and communicated with, but they weren't known for becoming friends with humans. So people weren't to keen on it, even when we were kids. One day Lexar got so mad about being teased for having a human friend he wanted to beat in a wall. I was experiencing the same thing, so we decided to fight one day, just let it all out. I had a broken jaw and Lexar had a swollen eye, but we both felt good. We laughed when it was over. We never went home with those kind of injures again, but it was easier to deal with the world after a fight. We found this building. Wasn't even being used, and started fighting. A couple friends found out what we were doing and started peaking in on us. One day I told them the next time they came, they had to fight. Parents were horrified, they boarded up the building hoping to stop us. But it was fun, half the time we didn't even hurt each other. But every once in a while someone went home with a black eye or something." 

Gunner began leading them out the building to the waiting speeder. He continued his story as they got in and drove off. "Police did everything to stop us, but we always found a place. There were only about eight of us then. Two Gungans besides Lexar and four humans besides me. We were considered the bad group. And a bad influence. Kids started betting on our fights. It was a problem, I won't deny that. Finally, my father said 'If you want to fight, fine, but I'm going to put you in a controlled environment. So he bought the building, built a ring and talked our parents into letting us hang out there after school. Time restrictions were put on things, you could be banned for fighting elsewhere and he added the pads, which made the parents happy. We were teenagers by then, about that boys age." Gunner pointed to Anakin. "More kids started showing up, both to fight and watch. We had competitions and as the crowds got bigger, I decided to start charging for it. My father thought it would turn people away, it didn't. The governor was against it. So Lexar and I donated the proceeds from the fight to the School. Then half the money from the next fight to rebuilding one of the older buildings. Pretty soon the governor saw the benefits of the sport, but decided to make certain legal safety precautions. We had a few pockets here and there that paid for the broadcast. Then the Trade Federation came in. After the Queen won the planet back, people seemed to want fisting more. It was those funds that allowed us to build the dome. But then the Queen got wind of the sport and ---" 

"She think it nutsen', Wan it goin' away," Lexar added. "Wesen tryin' to comply." 

"Then a building collapsed," Gunner said. "And we had to raise money to rebuild it. We don't live in the most lavish city in the world, but we have a tight community and heavy regulations for fisting, even if they are now unofficial." 

"It's a nice story," Obi-Wan said. "But have you ever thought about what might happen if children decide to imitate fisting without the safety precautions." 

"It never hurt us," Gunner said. "In my opinion, kids need a black eye here and there. I know the Jedi will never agree with that." 

"Fightun' not about anger. Sometime fightun' easier than talkin' and get yousen to da same place," Lexar said. 

"Sort of like me and Siri," Anakin added happily. "We fought all the time just to get things off our chest." 

"Yes, and look how quickly that turned on you," Obi-Wan added. 

"That was different," Anakin said. 

"Was it? Because you saw fighting as the answer to your problems, violence was the first thing you turned to when you had a problem with each other." 

"What's the difference between my sessions with Siri and lightsaber practice," the Padawan argued. 

"The difference is we're training you to use this weapon." He held up his own saber. "As a last resort. You and Siri spoke with violence, so it was the only way you know how to speak." 

"Good intentions are fine. But good intentions don't always lead to positive results. Good intentions have caused some of the greatest tragedies of the galaxy." 

"So your against Fisting," Gunner asked. 

"Fisting seems harmless in the here and now, causing more benefits than harm. But I can't see it causing any good in the future, in fact in may cause much trouble," Obi-Wan began. "Let's say this sport gets big enough on Naboo to attract other species. Someone takes it off Naboo and ups the violence for profit. In other words, Anakin, it could become just as dangerous as podracing." 

"You can't hold them accountable for----" 

"If one lights a match and hands it to a person with explosives, who's more responsible for the explosion?" 

Anakin sighed and was silent. 

They entered the "Dome" and Gunner and Lexar alternately explained the rules to them. Before and After each fight, fighters shook hands. Fisting fighters wore head guards and padded gloves. the chest guards were too restricting and they were removed. They had two types of matches, the second added recently. They started with the new event, endurance. An event mostly for the new fighters. There were five fighters and hundreds of floating blubber balls. Points were gained by capturing as many blubber balls as possible in five minutes, but you had to dodge them so often, it was difficult to do. And if you got hit by one in motion, it could knock you out. If it hit you hard enough, you could be left knocked out for hours---which mean you couldn't collect the balls. So dodging and deflecting them was just about as important as capturing them. And if you were crafty enough to deflect one at a competitor, you showed real skill. Once that game was over, the real match began, the fight. A one on one match against opponents. In the original rules you were only allowed to hit you opponent with you fist, but they had come to allow kicking. Any hits below the waist or head butts got you disqualified. They had at least three rounds that lasted for four minutes. If someone was knocked out, the match was over.   
.   
The entire arena was known as the "Fisting Dome". But there was an actual dome. The match was fought on a platform that generated a dome during the fight. The dome was similar to the one the Gungans used for the shields in their army. It had been tinkered with somewhat to make it tougher. The dome came up at the beginning of the fight and didn't come down until either someone was seriously hurt or time was up. After hundreds of fights, the only seriously listed injuries were two guys with broken legs, a broken arm, and one guy with some cracked ribs. There was a Doctor on staff and a treatment room inside the arena. 

Anakin wanted to compete, even if it was just in an endurance match. The scale of it amazed him. Sometimes when he was in the Jedi temple, he felt choked by his role. He wanted to use his gift in the force to better the world, but some days the pressures of his training got to be to much and he just wanted to run. This is when fighting with Siri came in handy, and he didn't even have that to go back to now. Why did he have to kiss her and ruin their friendship? The blubber balls probably weren't much harder to capture than the seeker droids were to destroy. But there were so many of them, it would still be a challenge. 

Obi-Wan followed Lexar to the treatment room as one of the technician came out to check the dome. He had a droid with him. Gunnar stepped up beside Anakin. 

"Anakin right?" Gunner asked. 

"Yes," Anakin replied. "How fast do the blubber balls move?" 

"You want to see?" Gunner asked. 

Anakin smiled a mischievous smile. "Can I try it?" 

"A boy after my own heart," Gunner said signaling the technician over to him. 

"Hey, I'm going to let this kid in the dome for the demonstration," Gunner told him. 

"I've never seen him before," the Tech said. 

"He's not a fighter," Gunner replied. 

"But I thought we only allowed guys with 20 hours gym time inside." 

"He's a Jedi," Gunner said patting the boy across the back. "He's had plenty of training." 

"What about Obi-Wan?" Anakin asked. 

"He's busy seeing the rest of our facilities, I'm sure that's more than enough time for us to have a little fun. Go on up" 

Anakin unhitched his lightsaber and gave it to Gunner. "Unfair advantage, he said running up to the platform.   
  


Anakin heard the hum of the dome generating. Then small holes opened up on the floor below him and small balls that could fit in the palm of his hand rose out of them. The holes closed and in a flash the balls began to bounce off the walls. Anakin just ducked a ball coming at his chest and rolled across the floor. He reached up for a ball and another ball hit him in the back of his head. Caught unprepared, he fell to the floor of the platform. For a few seconds, everything went black. 

"Kid, you alright," he heard someone yell. 

"Fine," he said so low no one could hear him. He inhaled, exhaled and rose to his feet with renewed energy. He became fire and lightning. Being hit with the ball had somehow brought him back to life. He anticipated a ball bouncing toward him, spun around and deflected it into another ball that swung right into his hands. He grabbed the ball, spun around to deflect another one and grabbed a second ball. He dropped those two, they were harmless now. He ducked a ball flying towards his head and deflected another with a punch. 

Gunner was amazed at his speed. Anakin had suddenly become a three times quicker than any fighter he knew. The kid was ducking, dodging, deflecting, and capturing balls like a pro. He was really shocked when the kid swung through the air and landed on the other side of the platform. The Tech was shocked too. The bell rung when the time was up. Anakin had stopped all but a few balls. The dome cam down and Anakin rose the balls in his hand in victory. 

"How'd I do?" he asked. 

"Better than anyone I've seen kid," Gunner replied slapping him on the back and handing him the lightsaber. It was then he noticed the smile drop from the teenagers face. Gunner turned and saw Obi-Wan standing there with Lexar and Gunner. 

"Let's go Anakin," Obi-Wan said. 

"But Master---" 

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan said more sharply than he intended. 

Anakin jumped from the platform and followed his master out of the arena. 

Gunner joined Lexar. Lexar looked at him curiously. 

"Yousa gotten dat look. What yousa tinkin' 'bout," Lexar asked. 

"That kid, he would make an awesome fighter." 

"But hessa Jedi" 

"He wants it, he needs it Lexar, I saw it in his eyes." 

"Sumptin' tellin' me, gettin' dat Jedi involved be bombad." 

"Plus," Audi added, "He seems pretty protective of the queen. We Governor Nester and I met them at the dock, kid didn't react till the governor talked bad about the Queen." 

"Don't you see, this is perfect. He has a soft spot for the Queen, but he's in favor of fisting." 

"And he's a Naboo hero." 

"What?" Gunner replied shocked. 

"After Anakin got defensive, I wondered how the Queen knew these Jedi. It was obvious this wasn't a random request for their help by the boys reaction," Audi explained. "Remember that kid who saved us from the Trade federation by blowing up the droid control ship?" 

"Yeah" Gunner and Lexar replied together. 

"Kid," Audi said pointing. "Seven years later." 

"Yousa kiddin" Lexar said shocked. 

"No true story. And the way the story goes he was pretty good pals with the queen. He pulled out a small holloprojector and up came an image of a boy with the older Jedi who had just left them---a few years younger. "That's him."   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Their rooms were in the Governor's house. They had two connected guest rooms. Anakin sat downstairs on a couch alone. Obi-Wan had left him there, determined not to come at him in anger. Anakin didn't know what to do with himself. Should he stay put until Obi-Wan spoke to him or get up and read or something? Should he meditate on what had happened? But all he'd done is play with some balls. He hadn't fought anyone, he hadn't hurt anyone, he hadn't broken anything, there was no great tragedy-------he had played with some balls----and he hadn't even been competing-----it was just him. 

He wished Amidala was there. If he closed his eyes and concentrated, he swore he could feel her energy, her life force flowing through him and almost felt as if he could send this same feeling to her. Sharing that connection, feeling her mind through the force, allowing her to feel his, had really been an exhilarating, unbelievable high. To touch her, to know her, to feel her, made him whole. And once he left Naboo, he didn't know if he would feel her as strongly. He felt Obi-Wan enter. His attention turned to him right away. 

"Anakin" 

"Yes master," the Padawan replied. 

"Do you understand what you did wrong?" 

"No, I didn't fight anyone." 

"As Jedi, we step into a situation neutrally and evaluate it. You broke that." Obi-Wan sighed and sat beside him. "We aren't here to take sides. Make decisions, but not take sides. And, in addition, we should look like we are on the same side." 

"So we can't disagree." 

"We are different people Anakin, very different. There will always come a time when we disagree, but we should keep those disagreements between us. When I saw you today, I saw myself on Melinda/Daan. I don't want you to make my mistake, leaving the Jedi was nearly the mistake that destroyed my life." 

Ah, that was it. Now Anakin understood. Though he didn't see how his playing with some balls was related to being a leader in a planet's revolution, he kind of understood how Obi-Wan might see it that way. But he had given up to much to be a Jedi to suddenly leave it all behind. 

"We're not going to the match tonight." 

"I understand," Anakin replied 

Obi-Wan gave the boy a fatherly hug and there was peace between them again. Then they heard the door open and went to see who was entering. Anakin's eyes nearly dropped from their sockets in surprise. Coming in the door was the Governor, Audi, and the Queen with a small party. Amidala looked straight at him, he saw her blush under her make-up. He hoped he wasn't blushing himself---he was. 

Neither one of them paid much attention to Audi, who was studying them both. 

"Queen Amidala, quite surprising to see you here," Obi-Wan replied. 

Amidala turned to the governor. "May I speak to the Jedi alone?" 

"Of course my queen," the governor said stepping back and opening the door to his study. 

The Jedi and the Queen slipped inside the room. She looked straight at Anakin "I heard you, your distress." 

"You heard him?" Obi-Wan questioned. 

"Yes, I think it has something to do with that thing we did." Amidala said as innocently as a little girl. 

"I've never heard of this happening before." 

"Doesn't matter, what was the problem." 

"Nothing serious, I was in the dome and got into a little trouble with Obi-Wan." 

"The Dome!!," The Queen exclaimed. "You are out here to stop that blood bath." 

"It's not a blood bath, it's a sport. There are millions of sports out in the galaxy. and some of them could rightfully be called bloodbaths, this one cannot. It's nothing like podracing, their are rules." 

Obi-Wan slipped out of the room, this was quickly turning into a lover's quarrel and anything he added would be quickly dismissed. He'd let his Padawan work through it. And he was now pondering something, Anakin had done something no one had ever done before, or at least something he'd never heard of before. Touched someone's mind so deeply through the force that they could sense him. It was quite unusual and he needed to contact Yoda. 

"I don't care if it's less harsh than podracing. People have been hurt, Anakin Skywalker. And is it sport for which people to pay to see others hurt." 

His whole name, did that mean she was really angry with him? He didn't want to upset her, but he believed he was right. "How often do people actually get seriously injured while fisting. Have you seen their injury list? This isn't about people or Gungans getting hurt. It's about your people doing something you don't like. If you didn't like cheese, would you outlaw it? If you didn't like me, would you outlaw me." 

Amidala smiled slightly and laughed to herself. The thought of outlawing Anakin, the boy who had saved her planet, we ridiculous. "I guess the Queen has again been taught a lesson by young Anakin. Perhaps, I have been a little misguided in my campaign against the sport." 

"Why didn't you say good-bye to me?" 

"A little embarrassed I suppose. I feel naked around you now." 

His eyebrow rose with the word naked. 

"Not literally of course," Amidala added. "It's disturbing and wonderful and scary and---" 

"I know it's scary. I feel it too, but--" 

"Anakin, I'm a Queen, I'm an example for a people. I can't act like some foolish lovesick teenager. I did that once and it nearly cost me my position." 

"Huh?" 

"There was a boy. A year after you left for the temple." 

Anakin was in shock. 

"He was eighteen, he has this lovely brown skin, beautiful eyes----I'm sorry," she said feeling a sudden jolt run through her. "You don't want to hear this." 

"I'm okay," he said through a cracked voice. 

"Your a liar, I can feel it," Amidala replied. 

"I want to here it," he replied. 

"Oh, little Ani," Amidala replied touching his face. "I never expected. How could I have ever thought I loved him? If I had known" 

He reached up and grazed her cheek with his hand and leaned toward her. She met his move with her own and their lips touched softly, testing. Their was no doubt in any of their minds how strong the bond had become between them, for they could feel it from one another. And with this knowledge, Anakin deepened the kiss. 

Little did they know Audi sat in an adjoining room. He had slipped in the room just as the kiss began and heard none of the conversation before it. The Queen and Anakin had never noticed the recording device hidden in the room. The governor and Gunner had come in with Audi. 

"Well well well," said the governor. Seems our Queen has a Jedi lover. "Even if he is a hero, this will turn more than a few heads in the press." 

"How old is this kid?" Gunner asked. 

"Sixteen standard years I think," replied Audi. "Questionable age?" 

"Possibly, enough of an age difference for their to be an added interest." 

"But we don't wish to anger the Queen," the governor replied. 

"No, but now we have leverage," Gunner replied. "After what happened when she was 15, she won't want this spilled to the public. You think the other Jedi knows?" 

"Why do you think he gave them a moment alone?" the governor replied. "As stiff as that Queen seems sometimes, I never would have guessed it." 

"You think the disagreement was just for our benefit?" Audi questioned. "That the kid is really here to get inside the game. Find the evidence the Queen needs." 

"I don't know," Gunner replied. "But she's not taking fisting away from us. And this is what's going to stop her. " 

Anakin had to stop himself, he was breathless .from the kiss, his mind racing. So was she. They sat down beside each other and she laid against him. Amidala found herself able to speak more easily after that kiss, after showing him how deep her feelings ran for him, so much different than that guy, the one that-- 

"I think your ready to hear about him now," Amidala began. "He was a bright young man. A prodigy of sorts. I didn't even know he was interested in politics, he had been studying marine biology at the university for three years. The first unification project between the Gungans and the humans was a student exchange. He was one of those students." 

"Does he have a name?" Anakin asked. 

"Yes, but I'd rather not say it, hurts to much to say it. I was foolish, I let him romance me, I believed his lies. I trusted my feelings and they were wrong. He wanted to be king Anakin. He purposely leaked a compromising moment to the press. I almost made a serious mistake Anakin, I nearly gave myself to him." 

He could feel her shame, and much like when he fought Siri -- he wanted to destroy the person who made her feel this way. But the feelings subsided. he could sense She needed his warmth and understanding. Not anger, not aggression. 

"Is this guy still on Naboo?" 

"No," Amidala replied. "He lied about how I seduced him. How I used my position to take advantage of him. And then." 

"Then what?" 

"Tried to take my throne. If it wasn't for my handmaidens, especially Sabe, I might be back on my parents farm right now." 

Anakin pulled her closer and kissed her forehead. 

"I want to see this fisting match. I may not like it, but if it's as harmless as you claim I will make sure to see that we make it legal. Of course, I'll want to have to set up some strict regulations." 

Anakin smiled. Amidala pulled out a comlink and called in her handmaidens. She looked a little rough and ruffled after her encounter with Anakin. She was certainly in no condition to speak to the mayor. 

"I'll see you later," Anakin asked as he prepared to depart. 

"You and your master will be escorting me to the fight tonight?" 

"Of course we will," Anakin replied with a bow, leaving as the handmaidens entered.   
  
  
  
  
  


Sometime later, soon after the Queen had been led to her room, there was a knock at her door. The governor requested her presence downstairs. She came with two of her handmaidens. She was surprised to find the governor with the elusive Gunner and Lexar and that strange assistant of his, Audi. 

"My Queen," the governor said bowing. He seemed to have this smirk as he said it and his manner seemed as slimy as a Nemodian. "I think you've met Gunner, this is his Gungan partner, Lexar." 

"Hello Queenie Ma'm, Wesa hopin' maybe yousa giben us a break on dis fistin'." 

"We've acquired information that may sway your opinion." 

Gunner turned on the recording they had made, Lexar looked a little bit puzzled as he did it. displayed in front of them was a small holo image of the kiss she shared with Anakin. The queen felt her world crashing in again. Everything was swirling through her head at once and then she heard the door open. Anakin came in and looked puzzled, then he saw what they had all been viewing. 

"The suitor to the queen ," the Governor announced. "You know, it's kind of romantic. The queen falling in love with the sweet little boy that saved her planet. But at the same time, you have to wonder if your people will see it that way. Especially after your "previous encounters". They might just wonder about the 'real' reason you called for the Jedi's help, the 'real' reason the Jedi are here. Why, they'd question Jedi morals themselves. All hail the queen, seductress of young Jedi in training. A boy barely sixteen years old." 

"Who did this!" Anakin yelled. 

"Isen liken' be knowin' too." the Gungan interupted. "Mesa sorry. Yousa should know, no matter how much we'sa wanna keep the game, Lexar no doin' dis." 

"Lex, it's the only way," Gunner yelled at him. "Look what we've done for Talok, rebuild schools, apartments, provided for our town. Now she wants to take it all away." 

While he was talking to Lexar, Anakin swung the holoprojector across the room and it smashed into a wall. Shattering the recording inside. 

"That was only a copy boy," the Governor chuckled. 

"What do I have to do to get the original?" 

"There's nothing you can do, it was the only way to get her to back off. It was the only way to save my city." 

"You don't know anything!" Anakin yelled. "She was going to back off! She was going to give the game a chance, but you wouldn't give her a chance." 

"Your lying, trying to protect your precious Queen again." 

"Your Queen!" Anakin yelled. "Or have you forgotten?" 

"Anakin stop," Amidala yelled. "He's lost his position as far as I'm concerned. The people trust me, they will support me in removing this scum from office." 

"I'll fight." Anakin said. 

"You can't," Amidala said. 

"Do you really think you have the skill to take on one of our fighters," the governor asked. 

"Don't slight the kid," Gunner interceded. "He's got skills. You forget he's a Jedi." 

"Jedi in training," the governor corrected. 

Anakin rose his hand and the governor felt an invisible grip on his throat. It took Amidala only a second to recognize what was happening. 

"Anakin, let him go," Amidala yelled. "It's not worth it. You're not going to fight." 

Anakin released the governor. 

"What I'm not going to do is let them hurt you all over again?" 

_'I'd kill for her.'_ Amidala heard the words in her head as clearly as if he'd said them just now. "Anakin, you know what? I don't care who knows. This isn't like him, like Cain Markell." 

The governor saw himself losing his leverage, he couldn't let this turn into a sap fest. 

"Okay, you fight, your get the original and all the copies. We all keep our mouths shut about your little affair." 

"It's not an affair!" Anakin yelled. 

"He's not fighting," Amidala insisted. 

"I have too" 

The Queen couldn't fight him anymore. At least the game was a controlled arena. Unlike what happened with Siri. He and the mayor shook on it. And the deal was done.   
  
  
  
  
  


Obi-Wan had been quite disappointed in his Padawan when he found out about the deal the boy had made. He told him he wasn't going to fight in the fisting match, but his words hit a brick wall. So Obi-Wan had simply said, "Tonight, you make a decision. I'm leaving for the temple, I've already arranged transport back to the main land. I've told you this before Padawan and I'll say it again. You invite chaos and it's what scares me the most about you." 

For more than a minute, he'd thought about leaving with Obi-wan, but in the end he stayed to fight. Anakin entered the Dome arena with Lexar, who had apologized numerous times for his partners behavior. Anakin had told him it was okay and Lexar had volunteered to get him ready. 

The governor had wasted no time in letting word get around about the Jedi being in the match. It said nothing about his opponent, only that he was undefeated. Anakin wasn't really worried. He was in good shape, he didn't even have to use the force. 

As the endurance match went on, Lexar prepped him for the match, re explaining the rules. He would be fighting a Gungan. He was experienced and strong. Lexar pointed him out, Anakin had never seen a Gungan with Muscles and he had rarely seen anyone with so many. If it wasn't for the Queen sitting in the audience, supporting him, he might have backed out. But his closest thoughts fell on another, Siri. This is where the intensely competitive fighting they'd done in the past would serve him. 

The endurance match was over. The music began. Bo was the name of the Gungan champ. People cheered as he entered the ring. Anakin had to block the Queen's fear from his own mind as he viewed this muscle bound fighter. Anakin ascended onto the dome platform with confidence. Size didn't matter. Yoda was the most well respected Jedi master of them all and he was the smallest. He would defeat Bo because he had to. Anakin heard the buzz of the dome as it generated. This was it, the moment of truth. 

Bo circled him. He was huge and strong, that much was obvious, but he was slow. He threw the first punch and Anakin ducked it. He threw another and Anakin again dodged it. He smiled to himself, this was going to be simpler than he thought. But his cockiness came to soon. He mistepped and Bo's fist slammed into his face. It didn't knock him out or knock him down, but he was so dazed from the punch that he never saw the second one coming or the third or the fourth. And the fifth knocked him to the floor of the platform. He hit the ground hard. 

In the Audience, Queen Amidala sat with her heart in her throat, watch blood spill from Anakin's mouth with that last push. Her heart dropped as the crowd cheered. She wanted to turn away, to run into a corner and cry for him, or demand that the fight end and pull him to safety, but somehow she held on to the Amidala facade and dealt with the scene before her. 

As the count began, Anakin lifted from the ground. Renewed by the same force he had been renewed by when he missed the ball that had knocked him to the very same floor. He saw his blood on the floor beneath him. It only made him more determined. And he felt her pain. He was here for her. 

He raised to his feet and faced Bo, a frightening grin on his face as the count stopped. Bo came toward him, fist swinging. Anakin blocked it, flipped out the way, moved so quickly Bo didn't know if he was going or coming half of the time. On his first opening, Anakin hit his left side then his right, Bo became so dazed, Anakin got off hit after hit. His opponent didn't back down and landed quite a few hits on Anakin, but only one or two that actually made their mark. When the round ended, Bo came back with renewed strength, but Anakin came back stronger then he had in the first round. Part of the crowd was booing him, the other half cheering him on. But none of it mattered, Anakin couldn't hear it, all he heard was Amidala's need for it to end. So he ended it. With strength pulled from some unknown place, he knocked out Bo. When the count was over and he was declared winner, his world went black.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Anakin awoke on what he figured out was a boat. He was on his way back to Theed. Amidala was sitting over him dabbing his face with a cloth. 

"I didn't know queens handled this type of job," Anakin said attempting a smile, but his face hurt. In fact, his whole body was on fire. He tried to filter it out through the force, but he couldn't concentrate. 

"What happened?" he struggled to ask. 

"I don't know. It seemed like you were knocked out, but then you got up. It was like you were on fire, I could hardly stand to watch. You threw yourself into the fight, throwing hit after hit. He hit you quite a few times too, but it never seemed to phase you until Bo was knocked out. Then you fell. 

Amidala handed Anakin a mirror. He sat up and looked at his face. His cheek was swollen and so was his eye. He looked like he had been beat in the face. It was nothing detrimental. Then he remembered why he had fought. 

"The recording?" he asked. 

"I have it. And I've reached an agreement with the governor, though after what happened to you I didn't want too. He's agreed to the abiding by my regulations and we will make sure the proceeds continue to go to urban renewal. I wasn't really in the mood to deal with him, but I wanted it to be over. I'm sorry I involved you Anakin." 

"I'm not," Anakin said hoarsely. 

"Anakin," Amidala said softly holding his hand. "You once said you would kill for me. I'm glad to know you love me that much, but you must make me a promise." 

"What?" 

"That you never will kill for me." 

"I promise." 

"You said that to quickly," Amidala replied, gripping his hand harder. "As afraid as I was when I saw you might be hurt, I was even more afraid of the rage with which you fought. I don't admire it Anakin, even if it was for my honor. Promise me." 

"If it's what you want, that promise is yours. I love you Padme." 

"I love you Ani."   
  


-------------------------------------- 

When they arrived in Theed, Anakin was given immediate medical attention. While he sat in the recovery room, he thought about Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan had left him, much like Qui-Gon had left Obi-Wan on Melida/Daan. He, like Obi-Wan, had sacrificed the relationship with his Master. Yoda actually liked Obi-Wan, even after he messed up. But Yoda had never liked him, Yoda was looking for an excuse to make sure the Padawan didn't succeed as a Jedi. 

"I guess I'm not as brave as Qui-Gon," a familiar voice said. 

"Obi-Wan?" Anakin asked. 

"Yes Padawan," Obi-Wan replied. "You understand you will have to be punished." 

"Yeah," he said with a smile, relief washing over him. 

"And you will have to let Amidala be for sometime." 

This time, there was little relief in this reply, "I understand. I'm glad you didn't give up on me." 

"How can I, your the chosen one," Obi-wan replied, placing a gentle hand on his Padawan's back.   
  
  
  
  
  


Later that night, Amidala came to see him. They shared a final good-bye, and a final kiss. In the morning there was a more formal good-bye and before he knew it he was back at the temple, a little more lonely. That night he dreamed of Amidala, of removing all her make-up instead of half and taking her into his arms. 


End file.
